How to Turn an Underperforming Team into a Winning One

Dan Leidl and Joe Frontiera are a managing partners of Meno Consulting and co-authors of the book Team Turnarounds, published by Jossey-Bass. They are columnists for WashingtonPost.com's On Leadership. Dan worked for The Jim Henson Company in their international licensing department and writes for several publications from the Post to Good BusinessInternational. Joe worked in Silicon Valley during the dot com boom, as well as WorldCom during the scandal and had a career in sales. In this interview, they talk about how to identify a team that isn't performing well, the first action you should take to help build the team back up, and more.

When do you usually know when a team isn't performing to standards?

In most cases we have metrics that let us know whether a team is performing well or not. We have our numbers (sales, revenue, etc.), partner relationships, new business, wins and losses, the actual opinions of team members, and much more to tell us whether a team is struggling or succeeding.

What can be difficult is embracing a problem when it exists and understanding exactly what the problem is. We sometimes look into the mirror too regularly to see our flaws, and a turnaround starts by accepting and acknowledging any blemishes as a point for moving forward. Once the team embraces that there’s a concern, it can then shift focus to identifying what needs to change. Questioning roles and the existing process are good places to start, and new goals and direction will follow.

What is the first action you take to help build a team back up?

At the risk of sounding clichéd, the first action in orchestrating a turnaround is acknowledging and embracing that there are problems. To move forward, there has to be a clear understanding that the current standards are insufficient, and the team is better than its current performance. Ultimately people want to achieve – we generally don’t enjoy failure. When a leader steps up and asks the team to accept that they’re losing, but embrace that they don’t have to, team members are likely to feel liberated and refreshed. Anxiety starts to develop when the group questions how they’re going to move forward. As you advance, you’re going to need a plan, and a clear vision for how the team can ultimately succeed.

How can business teams bounce back like sports teams do?

Whether you compete in business or on the field is irrelevant. Business teams and sports teams operate in incredibly similar fashion – you have goals, you have to be unified, you embrace roles, you work together to overcome adversity, and so on. The business cycle is different from sports, which can make business teams impatient at times. Business teams don’t have the benefit of playing a game or season to see immediate forward progress. Business can be a little trickier in this regard, as things can be going right or wrong for much longer without the feedback of the win or loss.

However, savvy business leaders guide their teams with time sensitive goals that are easily measured so that they can see where the team is going. Business teams can also benefit from sports teams by being more comprehensive in their effort to turnaround. Just as an athletic team would, asking whether you have the right people in the right roles, establishing a goals and a clear vision for the future, and creating a culture of accountability will all pay dividends.

What is the biggest challenge during the turnaround process?

The biggest challenge in turning an organization around is belief and persistence. It’s easy to try one thing, back off, go in another direction, fail, and then rationalize the consequences away. It can also be easy to stay mediocre, accept the status quo, and just limp through challenges. It’s much more difficult to believe in a positive future and then go after it.

It requires a tremendous amount of energy, fortitude and commitment to take a team that it is struggling and lead it to unknown success. But there are wonderful stories of people who have done this, and we simply have to believe that we have it in ourselves to achieve in spite of the obstacles in our path.

How do you choose the right team in the first place?

Skill set and personality are probably the two biggest variables when selecting team players. Oftentimes experience should be tossed out the window. If you have someone who has a needed skill set and is enthusiastic and supportive, you need that person. Hard working team players who simply won’t quit are essential to turnarounds or any real success. Frankly, skills can often be taught too, so being positive and persistent may be the most important traits of a strong team player - But it sure helps to have highly skilled people who can attack specific tasks with confidence and determination.